Something a bit different this week. Clearing out my virtual writing desk over New Year, I came across a handful of micro/hintfiction competition entries I wrote in 2009. Though I did receive a nice email about one of the following micro fictions, none of the following were successful in their respective competitions. I remain quite fond of these little stories so thought, for my first #fridayflash of 2010, I would let them out into the wild. Be gentle, they’re only little.

The Other Shoe.

He sat with one shoe off and one shoe on, unsure of whether he was coming or going. She refused to help by saying something.

On The Shelf

If he wasn’t six inches tall, fixed to base, unable to speak, he would tell her he loved her. At least he thinks so.

Fading

Anna lay unresponsive in the bed. Silences had long been part of their marriage, ructions causing her to act as if Tom simply wasn’t there. Anna would never acknowledge it but, watching his image in the bedroom mirror grow slowly more transparent, Tom knew this time things were serious.

Lie

It leaves her lips easily. Tomorrow she will do something other than what she says she will. The day following she will regret ever uttering it. She will hate herself for speaking it and him for believing. What dialogue remains in their relationship will be subtitled by the lie.

Locked In

Aged six, I locked myself in the bathroom, ignoring instructions to leave the key alone. Dad splintered the frame, punting the lock through the soft wood of the door frame. Grown up now, I still find myself in traps of my own making, waiting for a size twelve boot to save me.